Summer in October

It's October 1st today but you wouldn't be able to tell by the 90 degrees weather here in the San Gabriel Valley. It dawned on me that it was already October today when I saw this outside of a Trader Joe's.

Brussels sprouts already starting to show up at the market. 

These were nice!

Side story: There is a billboard outside of this particular Trader Joe's with these exact pictures on it but no words and for many months now I've been meaning to ask an employee what the pictures meant. Then while we were in the frozen aisle today, Sister S spotted this sign inside the store that finally solved the puzzle. Of course we had been reading too much into this the whole time. We thought it was some clever inside joke. Maybe it is.

Dinner tonight was inspired by this healthy basil plant in my sister's yard and some ingredients requested by my sisters.

Sauteing some Cremini mushrooms, asparagus and chopped garlic...

...to add to this TJ's jarred marina sauce. Already added to the sauce but not photographed were some sauteed spicy Italian sausages.

Served over some tri-colored radiatore pasta! The basil was the star of the show. We also made some garlic bread with some mini french baguettes but I forgot to take a photo. It was delicious! You will have to take my word for it.

I was suppose to go for my final long run this morning but I didn't. I will try to get it done tomorrow. Long Beach is next weekend. It will probably be fine but I am nervous. I really should have ran more. After LB hopefully I can get myself back on track to train hard for Santa Barbara. I can't believe that I have just 2 more marathons left for the year. Seemed so daunting at the beginning of the year when I realized that I had signed up for 6 marathons in 2011. What was I thinking? Next year I only have 2 fulls so far and that seems just right to me for the time being. But we shall see! ;o)